Mount Mitchill

Mount Mitchill is a mountain in Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth County, New Jersey. It has an elevation of 266 feet above sea level, and it is the highest natural point on the Atlantic seaboard between southern Maine and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Cartographers named the mountain in honor of Samuel L. Mitchill, a New York physician, naturalist, educator, and US congressman. Mitchill was part of an 1816 expedition to measure the height of the Navesink Highlands. The mountain and the surrounding highlands were prone to slumping or slump blocking, in which large blocks of earth (typically sandy soil covered by ironstone) slide suddenly down a cliff face. In 2002, the Monmouth County 9/11 Committee created a memorial to honor the 147 Monmouth County residents who perished in the 9/11 attacks of 11 September 2001, and, in 2005, the group exceeded its fundraising goal by raising $296,000. The mountain is now known for its memorial and its scenic view of Sandy Hook Bay and the New York City skyline.